Every Step You Take
by fbi-woman
Summary: A person from her past turns Abby's life upside down. Abby/Buck. Canon to the end of S1, then it's AU.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Every Step You Take

Author: fbi_woman

Rating: T

Type: 9-1-1, Abby/Buck, drama/suspense

Spoilers: None specifically

Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with 9-1-1 or Fox, and make no such claim.

Summary: A person from her past turns Abby's life upside down. Abby/Buck. Canon to the end of S1, then it's AU.

A/N: Sorry for the massive delay in posting this (for those of you who knew about it) – long story short, I injured both my hands at the same time lol so typing has been a challenge. I'm still in a rut right now, where I feel like there's no point in finishing my fic list, but I had already started this one, so I decided I might as well finish it. I toyed with this idea for a while. I generally like to stick to more realistic type things, but I also like to keep things fresh for myself and push myself to try new things and write storylines outside my comfort zone. This is also much more dialogue heavy than what I normally do. This story is more Abby-centric and less in the romance genre, but the relationship is still very present. Still not sure how I feel about it as a whole idea, but hopefully you'll like it okay. Especially since it might be my last. It's not the kind I wanted to go out on, so maybe I can squeak out one or two more, but I can't make any promises.

Side note: for the purposes of this story, Buck got his own apartment while Abby was away.

* * *

It was just another hot, humid, sunny day in LA, and Abby was thankful to have spent most of it in the air conditioning. It had been a long shift of pretty normal calls, and she was ready to head home and open a bottle of wine. Buck was coming over after he got off work, so she had a little time to kill before he would arrive with their take out. She hadn't been home from her travels for very long, but they had quickly fallen back into a routine and now it was almost as if she never left. She was nervous at first that maybe she had been gone too long and their time had passed, but true to his word, he had been waiting for her at the airport and eagerly welcomed her back into his life. She was walking to her car, debating how best to spend her free time, when she heard someone calling her name and she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Abby!"

She knew that voice. Incredulous, she turned around to see none other than her ex-boyfriend. _Great, just what every girl wants: an awkward run in with the ex._

"Tommy! I'm surprised to see you," she replied, forcing a smile. Last she had heard he was working in an office down the street, so she supposed it wasn't _that_ strange to run into him here, but it hadn't happen before. _Guess my luck ran out_.

"I, uh, I heard about your mom. I actually came by a couple months ago to see how you were doing, but they said you were taking some time off."

"Oh, yeah, I just needed to get away for a bit. I'm doing okay now though."

"I'm glad to hear it. She was a great woman and she was lucky to have you."

She barely contained the urge to scoff at him. _Sure, now you say that._ _Asshole._ _Time to leave_. "Well, thanks for coming by."

"Sure… hey, maybe we could go for coffee some time, catch up?"

 _Oh HELL no._ "I don't know if that's the best idea."

"Come on, for old time's sake. Just two friends having coffee, nothing more."

"We're not friends anymore," she said bluntly.

He sighed. "I know, and that's on me. I screwed up and I can't take it back. I get that. But you were a big part of my life for quite some time. I still want to be here for you as a friend, if you'll give me the chance."

She had a bad feeling about this. "I don't know."

"Just think about it, okay? You still have my number?"

She didn't, but she didn't really want it either. "Yeah."

"Great. If you decide you want to do coffee, let me know."

"Okay."

He hugged her goodbye, and it was awkward as hell. She just stood stiffly, caught off guard and not sure how to react. Forcing another smile, she gave a quick wave and scurried off to the sanctuary of her car. Why couldn't she have left 5 minutes sooner? She could have missed him and avoided the whole scene. There was no chance she was calling him and she couldn't figure out why, after all this time, he suddenly wanted her to. He said just friends, but maybe he was trying to suss out if she was still single? That was the only thing that would make sense. She shook her head and stuck the key in the ignition. She _really_ needed that glass of wine, pronto.

Later, she and Buck were curled up on the couch watching a movie, but she wasn't paying attention to the screen. Her mind kept drifting back to her encounter with Tommy. The whole thing had really rattled her, and she wasn't sure why. She supposed she just hadn't expected to ever see him again, which perhaps had been a little naïve. Running into him had just stirred up old hurt and anger that she thought she had put behind her.

"Hey, you okay?"

She looked over to see Buck watching her, looking worried. "Yeah," she sighed, "just something weird that happened when I was leaving work today."

"What was it?"

"Tommy."

His brow furrowed. "The guy that walked out because of your mom?"

"Yeah."

"What did he want?"

"I don't really know. It was kind of weird. He said he heard about mom and wanted to see how I was doing."

"Well… that's nice, I guess."

"Yeah, I guess."

"What was weird about it?"

She sighed again. "I don't know. He just seemed different. And he had the nerve to say how great she was and how lucky she was to have me, like he hadn't made a huge issue out of me taking her in. And then he said we should catch up, and I tried to politely say no, so then he asked me to think about it and then he hugged me."

"Sounds to me like he wants a second chance."

"Well he's not getting one."

He pulled her closer and kissed her softly. "Good, because I don't really like to share."

* * *

It was a rare occasion that Abby managed to get Buck to go shopping with her. Clothes shopping, that is. He was the type of shopper who had a couple stores he liked, knew his size, and could just pick things out without trying them on and still have them look good him. She, on the other hand, was not. She didn't think many women were, to be honest. Frankly, she was a little lost when it came to shopping. She hadn't had much time for that kind of thing when she was caring for her mom, and it seemed like all the stores had changed in the years that had passed. Now she didn't know what stores were her favourites or what styles worked for her anymore, and her last attempt to find an outfit had ended with no purchases and a large glass of wine on the couch. They had a wedding to go to this weekend so she couldn't put it off any longer and had all but begged him to come along for moral support. Six stores and god knows how many dresses in, and she could tell he was regretting it.

"Abby, it looks good, I swear."

"You don't think it's too boxy for me? I feel like it makes me look bigger than I am."

"Then go with the purple one."

She shook her head. "That one's too tight."

"You could try it in the next size."

"No, it's just that kind of fabric; it clings."

"What's that saying? 'If you've got it, flaunt it'?"

"Not everything I've got deserves flaunting."

He rolled his eyes and stood up. "Okay you wait here, _I'm_ going to pick a couple this time."

"Oh no you're not."

"You don't like anything _you_ pick."

"Fine," she huffed, taking his seat in front of her change room. "Don't make me look like a hooker!" she warned as he walked away.

She waited, and waited, and waited, and waited some more. Did she take this long to pick things out? No wonder he was annoyed with her. She was just about to go looking for him when he finally returned with three hangers. Two out of three had potential, but she couldn't help laughing at the green one.

"What?"

"No way."

"What's wrong with it?"

"This is definite hooker territory. Actually, it's more like sexy-Tinkerbell territory."

"How do you know if you don't try it on?" he said, mimicking her statement from 3 stores ago.

"Nice try, but there is zero chance that's going to be an acceptable amount of cleavage for a wedding."

She shoved the green dress back in his hand, but agreed to give the other two a chance. She tried the pink one on first, and while she didn't _hate_ it, it didn't feel right. It was a little too… princess-y.

"So do I get to see my picks, or what?" Buck asked from the other side of the door.

Grudgingly she opened the door and came out in the pink dress.

"That's pretty."

She sighed. "Yeah."

"You don't like it." He didn't sound surprised.

"I do, it's just… don't you think I'm a little too old for a skirt this… poofy?"

"No."

"Maybe the blue one will be better."

He mumbled something under his breath but she chose to ignore it. For someone who hadn't wanted to come in the first place, he had tried really hard to be a good sport for most of it.

When she came out in the last dress, she saw his eyes light up and she couldn't help but smile. It was a light powder blue, knee length, and essentially strapless but with a long sleeve lace overlay and softly pleated skirt flowing from an A line waist.

"Please tell me you like this one, because it looks amazing on you."

"I love this one," she admitted, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him, "you did good. Thank you for coming with me."

"You know I can't say no to you."

"That frozen yogurt place you like is on this floor, why don't you go ahead while I pay and I'll meet you there?"

"You want your usual?"

She nodded and headed back to her change room.

There was no one else at the register, so was out of the store relatively quickly and Buck was still in line when she got to the frozen yogurt stand, so she grabbed one of the empty tables for them. She got her phone out of her purse and was scrolling through the news headlines when she suddenly got the eerie feeling of being watched. She looked around but she didn't see anyone looking her way. She was just about to chastise herself for being so silly when she heard footsteps behind her coming closer. Curious, she looked over her shoulder and was immediately sorry she did.

"Abby! I thought that was you. What are the chances, huh?"

 _Fuck_. "Hey, Tommy." Could her luck be any worse? In a city as big as LA, she just had to run into her least favourite ex _again_.

"So what brings you here?"

"Shopping," she replied flatly.

"Right, yeah. So, I was kind of disappointed you didn't call."

"Oh."

"I mean, we were good together. I know that's long over, but I had hoped we could at least be friends."

"I'm just trying to move forward with my life, you know? I'm not sure I want to revisit the past."

"It doesn't have to be like that. We could start over."

"I'm just not –"

"Hey… am I interrupting something?" Buck asked as he arrived at the table, looking concerned.

"No, not at all," she said with a relieved smile.

Tommy briefly looked back and forth between her a Buck. "What's with the bodyguard?"

Abby felt her cheeks flush and cursed her inability to play it cool. On the phone? Cool as a cucumber. In person? Not so much. He was clearly fishing for an introduction she hadn't planned on making.

"Tommy, this is my boyfriend, Buck. Buck, this is Tommy."

Buck stuck his hand out to shake Tommy's, and Abby had to admit that she quite enjoyed the way Tommy shrank back a bit. If you didn't know Buck, he could definitely appear intimidating, and she was hopeful that would work in her favour.

"So, how did you guys meet?" Tommy questioned, looking slightly perplexed.

"Buck's a fireman, we met on a call." He didn't need the full story, and she didn't particularly want him to have it.

"Oh, cool. Well, I guess I'll be on my way. Always good seeing you, Abby."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and forced a tight smile and a little wave.

"So that's the guy, huh?" Buck asked once Tommy was out of earshot.

"That's the guy. I can't believe I managed to go years without seeing this guy, and now I've seen him twice in a month or so."

"Small world sometimes."

"Yeah, maybe _too_ small."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This story is complete, so updates will be fairly prompt/regular. I'm sure by the end of this chapter you'll all have a good idea of where this is going – I mean, maybe not, maybe I just watch too much Investigation Discovery – but hopefully you'll come along for the ride anyways.

* * *

A couple weeks passed, and she had all but forgotten about the mall incident. Work had been crazy lately, and she swore it must be a record-breaking month for number of catastrophes. Both she and Buck were exhausted after work most nights and their dates had become more along the lines of Netflix and chill, which typically turned into a sleepover on the couch when they both passed out during the movie. He had decided they needed to break that cycle and insisted on taking her out tonight, but her last call had taken forever and now she was running late. She was hurrying to her car, praying to the traffic Gods for green lights and no gridlock, when someone stepped out from behind a parked SUV.

"Why are you doing this, Abby?"

She jumped, startled, and turned to face the one person she wanted to see the least right now. She sighed in frustration. "Doing what, Tommy?"

"Avoiding me. Hanging out with that muscle man."

She grit her teeth. She _really_ didn't have time for this right now. "We've been over this. I'm not interested in rekindling some kind of friendship, and you know Buck is my boyfriend."

"Yes of course I _know_ that," he said, clearly annoyed, "but what I don't understand is _why_?"

" _Why?_ Why not?"

"Because he's a _kid_ , Abby!"

She was caught off guard by his sudden explosion of anger. What the hell was wrong with him? She had never seen him like this before.

"Do you have any idea how that makes you look?" he continued.

"I don't care about that stuff… you used to know that about me."

"You deserve better than that, Abby. You should have a real _man,_ not a _boy_."

She was trying her hardest to keep calm, to not let him goad her into a fight, but evidently he still knew her well enough to push her buttons. Her residual anger towards him was already starting to seep in, and now he was adding fuel to the fire. "You mean like _you?_ The guy who ran away when things got tough?"

He got right up in her face and she knew she had struck a nerve. "You really think your little boy toy would be any better? That he would have stuck around through all that?"

"Yeah, I do."

He scoffed. "Come on Abby, we both know you're not that dumb."

That was the last straw. She was already seeing red, and there was no way she was going to let him insult her or Buck like that. "You know _why_ I think that, Tommy? _Because it's true_. Because he _was_ there, and he _did_ stick around. I gave him every opportunity to leave, and he stayed. Hell, I opened the fucking door for him, and he didn't walk through it. You opened it all by yourself and slammed it in my face! You didn't think I was worth the sacrifice, so where the hell do you get off waltzing over here now to tell me who I should and shouldn't be with? I found someone _great,_ who stood by me and _supported_ me, who makes me _happy_ , and you have no right to judge him when you're not even _half_ the man he is. Stay the hell away from me."

His face went crimson with rage, and for a minute she was actually scared of what he might do. In hindsight, she probably should have thought through that little speech before she went ahead and shouted it. But much to her relief, he simply turned on his heel and stormed away. She prayed that would be the end of it, that maybe now he had gotten the message loud and clear. Then she got in her car, shook her head, and tried to turn her mood back around. She wasn't going to let him put a damper on her night.

* * *

At first she didn't give it much thought, but as time wore on, Abby noticed she was getting a lot of hang up calls. Like, _a lot_. It started as just one every few days, but over the past couple weeks it had escalated to several a day. They were less frequent when Buck was there and all but stopped if he answered the phone, and that's exactly what started to make her nervous about it. It couldn't just be a coincidence. She had considered unplugging the phone and just using her cell full time, but she didn't really like giving out her cell number to just anyone.

The phone promptly rang and she jolted up in her seat, startled her out of her thoughts. She just stared at it for a minute, unsure if she wanted to answer.

Buck swept by on his way back from the kitchen and grabbed the phone, making the decision for her. "Hello?"

She watched as his brow furrowed, then he looked at the phone for a second, and hung up.

"Another hang up, weird."

She chewed her lip anxiously. "Do you think I should be worried about it?"

"Worried? Why?"

"I don't know. Like you said, it's weird."

"It's probably just some autodialing service or something that got your number."

She was pretty sure that wasn't it, but she nodded and let it go. She didn't want to worry him, especially if she was just being paranoid. Maybe there _was_ an innocent explanation. Either way, she was glad he was staying over tonight. What she needed was a neutral party; someone she could tell the whole story to, who would keep it quiet, but would also tell her honestly if she was making a mountain out of a mole hill… and she had the perfect person in mind.

The next day was her day off, and though she and Buck usually tried to align their free days, it hadn't worked out this week, which gave her the perfect opportunity to surreptitiously seek some advice. Once he was out the door and on his way to work, she pulled out her phone and selected a name from her contact list.

It rang twice before someone picked up the call. "Hello?"

"Hi, Athena, it's Abby Clark. Are you busy?"

"I'm on my way to a call, why?"

"Oh. I was kind of hoping I could pick your brain about something."

"I can call you when I'm back at my desk."

She hesitated. "Could we meet? I'd rather talk in person."

"Sure. Can you come down to the station? I don't think I'll be long."

"Yeah, I can do that."

"Okay, see you there."

Evidently the call was more complicated than Athena had anticipated, because Abby had now been waiting in the lobby for half an hour. Not that she minded, she had nowhere to be, and being in a police station at least gave her some peace of mind. There would be no surprise confrontations here.

"Abby, come on back."

She looked up to see Athena waving her over, and she followed quietly through the bullpen until they reached her desk. Her gaze dropped to her hands as she sat, trying to work up the nerve to actually share what she was about to say.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

Abby toyed with the hem of her sleeve, suddenly a little embarrassed. "I was hoping I could get your opinion on a… situation I'm in."

"Is this about Buck?"

"No! God no."

"Okay, what's the situation?"

"Just let me preface this by saying I _might_ be crazy. That's kind of what I want your opinion on."

"If you're crazy?"

She laughed nervously. "Yes and no. I think I might be… over reacting to something… someone… and I'm hoping you'll tell me if I should actually be worried or not."

"I'll do my best."

"Okay," Abby took a deep breath before diving in, "so I have this ex-boyfriend –"

"Oh Lord."

"You hear a lot of stories that start like that, don't you?"

"You have no idea. Anyways, continue."

"Well, he showed up outside my work one day, not long after I came home, and said he had been looking for me because he wanted to 'offer his condolences' or whatever about my mom. I thought that was a little strange, because my mom was the reason he left, and we haven't really spoken since then. He said he wanted to be friends, but I wasn't big on the idea, and he said to call if I changed my mind. So obviously I never called, but then Buck and I ran into him at the mall and he seemed annoyed that I didn't. Then he showed up at my work again and said I was avoiding him and tried to convince me that he would be better for me than Buck. I told him I'm happy with Buck and to leave us alone, and… I've never seen him so angry. And now I'm getting a lot of hang up calls, but they stop if Buck answers the phone, and then they don't start again until the next day. So I kind of think it's him, but I don't know that for a fact. Maybe it has nothing to do with him, I don't know. Am I freaking out over nothing?"

"How well do you know this guy?"

"Pretty well, I think. We were together for a while. He's not like I remember him though. I can't put my finger on it. There's nothing obvious wrong, he's just not himself."

"Any history of mental illness or substance abuse? Was he ever violent?"

"No! And no history that I know of."

"Well, I don't think you're crazy."

Abby felt some of the tension melt away from her body. "Okay."

"I think you're right to be concerned, there's definitely a few red flags there, but at the same time, I don't think you're in any immediate danger. Hang ups are common in stalking cases, but there are no threats, no vandalism, nothing like that, right?"

"Right."

"If I were you, I would be cautious, and start a journal where you log every call and every interaction you have with him. If his behaviour does escalate, having a record of stalking activity could help your case."

Her heart started pounding a little faster. "Escalate?"

"Most cases don't escalate past this point, so don't panic. If he does try to contact you, don't engage. And keep me in the loop. Leave me his name and I'll do some poking around, see what I can turn up."

"Thank you. And… can we keep this between us?"

Athena looked uneasy but agreed, and Abby felt relief wash over her. It felt good to get all of that off her chest and get some validation that it wasn't all in her mind. She would just have to be patient and wait him out; she had no intention of letting him win.

* * *

After meeting with Athena, Abby had simply decided to stop answering her home phone. If it was a legitimate call, they would leave a message, and she used that same logic in persuading Buck not to answer either. Initially she felt good about that decision and the calls did decrease in frequency within days of when she stopped answering. She took that as a sign that Tommy was backing off. Maybe he would leave her alone now and everything would go back to normal. At least, that's what she had been hoping, until Athena called and asked to meet her for coffee so they could talk. She had a sinking feeling that said request meant there were some things she didn't know about Tommy that she wasn't going to like hearing. As she walked to the café around the corner from work while on her lunch break, she wasn't sure she would be able to have a lunch today; her stomach was twisted in knots about what Athena might have to say.

Athena arrived at the same time as Abby's coffee, but she waved off the waiter and quickly sat down.

"I can't stay long," she explained, "but I did some digging on your ex, and I think there are some things we should talk about."

Abby's heart was racing, but she tried to stay outwardly calm. "Okay."

"Did he ever mention anyone by the name of Katherine or Diane?"

She thought for a minute before answering. "I think he had a previous girlfriend named Kathy, that could be Katherine I guess. But I don't remember a Diane."

"Do you remember what he said about Kathy?"

"Not really. It wasn't like he talked about her, just sort of mentioned her in passing sometimes. Why?"

"I don't want you to panic…"

 _Oh God. Anything that starts like that is bound to be REALLY bad._ "… but?" Abby prompted reluctantly.

"But they're both old girlfriends of his who filed restraining orders against him at some point after they broke up."

"Oh my God!" To say she was shocked was an understatement. She _never_ would have expected to hear something like that about Tommy.

"I said _don't_ panic."

"How am I supposed to _not_ panic about that?"

"It's not all bad news. While they did file restraining orders, neither case ever involved any reports of violence; it was mostly just showing up unexpectedly, excessive calls at home or at work, the same kind of thing you're dealing with now."

"You said _mostly_."

Athena hesitated for a moment before responding. "Well, there were a few threats, which is why they were granted the restraining orders, but nothing ever came of those threats. He never attempted to make good on them."

"What kind of threats?!" Evidently she was failing miserably at not panicking.

"Nothing specific, just 'you can run but you can't hide' type things."

"I'm sorry, how is this not bad news?"

"That probably wasn't the best choice of words. It's not good news by any means, but it's certainly not as bad as it _could_ be. He has an established pattern of this kind of behaviour, and that pattern suggests he won't take it any further than idle threats."

"I guess that's a little bit reassuring." She wasn't sure she actually felt that way, but she wanted to.

"I still want you to keep up with the log and keep me posted on the situation though, just to be safe."

"Okay."

They had said their goodbyes and gone their separate ways, and over the next week, Abby slowly managed to push most of her worries aside. The calls to her home phone had almost dropped off completely, and some of her stress was starting to melt away. At least, it was, until she walked into the break room at work on Thursday. A couple other operators were chatting amongst themselves in the corner while she poured herself a cup of coffee, and she was about to leave when one called out to her.

"Hey Abby, come here a minute."

She sighed. She really wasn't one for workplace gossip, but it seemed she wasn't going to escape this time.

"Hey, have you been getting more hang ups than usual lately?" Julie asked.

"Not that I've noticed, why?"

"We've all had quite a few in the past couple days, just seemed weird is all."

 _Don't be paranoid, Abby._ "Probably just the usual, kids playing pranks or daring each other to call."

The others nodded, but didn't look convinced. In truth, neither was she. Athena had mentioned the other women getting calls at work, but it wasn't like she worked in a normal office or retail setting. Would he really call 911 just to talk to her? That seemed a little extreme. But then again, stalking in general is kind of extreme, right? She took a few deep breaths and calmed herself down. She had a job to do, and she wasn't going to let fear get in the way. When her shift ended and she hadn't received any hang-ups or unnerving calls, she was relieved.

It was about 4 hours into her shift the following day when her relief came to an abrupt end.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

"Finally, just the voice I've been looking for."

Her blood ran cold. "Tommy, it's against the law to call 9-1-1 when there isn't an emergency, you know that."

"Well, you won't answer your phone at home, so you didn't leave me with much choice. You _have_ to answer the phone here."

"That's true, but if you don't have an emergency, I don't have to talk to you."

"Oh, but I think deep down you want to."

"You think wrong."

She ended the call and quickly escaped to the ladies' room to splash some cold water on her face. She was physically shaking, and she couldn't stop. Pulling out her phone, she typed out a quick text.

[Text from Abby]: _I'm at work, he just called in. I think he's hanging up on the other operators and calling back until he gets me._

Her phone buzzed a minute later.

[Text from Athena]: _Stay calm, don't engage, and keep the recordings._

Well, she had bombed the first two things already, but storing the recording she could still do. She took a few deep breaths, and headed back to her desk.

Her shift was over in 5 minutes, and she was dying to get home. That stupid call had weighed on her all day and she felt completely drained of energy. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into her bed, call Buck to say goodnight, and go to sleep. Especially since she had to be back here in the morning to face another day of wondering if Tommy was on the other end of every call.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

"There you are."

She sighed. "Tommy, do you have an emergency or not?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. You see, this woman ripped my heart out earlier –"

She swiftly cut him off. "I'm not playing this game with you."

Ending the call, she threw her headset down and stormed out of the room. Fuck the last 3 minutes of her shift. She was done for today.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: One more chapter to go.

* * *

The 9-1-1 calls continued for a couple days, and she maintained a steady response of hanging up. When he gave up with that plan, things went back to normal and she didn't hear from him again for two weeks. That's when he turned things up a notch. The first day that she spotted a piece of paper tucked under her windshield wiper, she didn't panic right away. It was late, and she had heard about a car jacking and robbery scam going on where a pair of criminals would put a fake ticket under a woman's windshield wiper, wait until she went to read it, then ambush her, take her purse, and jump in the car if she left the door open. So Abby didn't go straight for the piece of paper, just in case. Instead, she drove to a busier parking lot and pulled up right under one of the lights. She didn't think she had been followed; she had been checking her mirrors the whole the way, and no one had pulled into the parking lot shortly after she did. With a deep breath, she darted out to grab the piece of paper and quickly hopped back in the car, locking herself in before she unfolded the paper. But it wasn't a fake ticket. It was just one short line, written in block letters: I'M WATCHING.

Though she knew from Athena that Tommy had a history of leaving threatening notes, she tried not to jump to that conclusion right away. He had been radio silent for two weeks and to be fair, the note didn't say her name or anything specific on it; it could just as easily be a prank from some teens that thought it would be funny to scare someone. She had to admit it would be a hell of a coincidence if the kids just happened to pick _her_ car out of the lot, but it was possible. She clung to that possibility until a few days later, when she found another note: YOU CAN'T HIDE FOREVER. That was true, she supposed, and it was an unsettling realization. She was banking on him eventually getting tired of the cat-and-mouse thing they had going on. If that didn't happen, she didn't have a whole lot of options.

Later that week, she received a note in the mail as well. There was no return address on the envelope, which was her first red flag. She opened it as soon as she got inside. It read: YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. What the hell did that mean? _Warned about what?_ A knot was forming in her stomach. Was he really planning to do something, or was he just saying that to mess with her? She stashed the note away before Buck came to pick her up for dinner and did her best to act normally. She didn't want to worry him unless she had a reason to, and so far she had no reason to believe that Tommy really meant any of this stuff. She almost caved a couple days later though, when she left work to find her car had been keyed. Buck came over to surprise her and had spotted the damage when he parked beside her car. Originally she had planned to try and get it fixed before he noticed, but that was obviously not going to happen. When he asked her about it, she had paused for a minute, chewing on her lip as she contemplated her answer. In the end, she told him she didn't know who did it, and that it was probably just a case of mistaken identity. His expression told her that the pause before her answer had him concerned, but he took her at her word. She sent a text and photos to Athena with her real suspicions.

The following week, however, she knew the time to come clean to Buck had arrived. She was sitting in his living room, waiting for him to get home from work. Originally she had waited outside in her car, but after 10 minutes she got a text saying he would be late, and to let herself in. It was now almost an hour after he was due to arrive home, and she was starting to worry. She was just about to call him when she heard the lock turn on the door.

"Hey, sorry I'm so late."

"It's okay, I was actually just about to call you and make sure you were all right."

"I'm fine, but my car is not. I had to wait for the cops and then Bobby drove me home."

She was immediately alarmed. "What happened?"

"Some asshole slashed my tires, can you believe it? All four of them!"

Her mind drifted to the note she had found on her windshield when she left work to drive over here: YOUR CHOICES HAVE CONSEQUENCES. This must be the consequence.

She swallowed hard, looking down at her hands. "I think I know who did it," she said quietly.

"Really? Who?"

"There's some stuff going on that I haven't told you about because I didn't want you to worry."

"What stuff?" he asked, sitting down beside her.

"Remember that time we ran into Tommy at the mall?"

"Yeah."

"I saw him again after that. He showed up at work again and was giving me a hard time about my relationship with you and I told him it was none of his business and to leave me alone, that I wasn't interested in having anything more to do with him. He was really angry but he left. Then those hang up calls started, and I'm sure it was him because there were a lot more of them when I was alone, and then he started calling 9-1-1 and hanging up until he got me. A little while ago I started getting notes. Mostly on my windshield, but one came to the apartment. The one I got today said that there would be consequences for my choices, and then your tires get slashed. That can't be a coincidence."

He looked understandably shell-shocked. "Abbs, why didn't you tell me any of this? We should go to the cops."

"I did. Well, sort of. I talked to Athena about it. She looked up his history and I guess he's done stuff like this before, but it never went further than the notes. I didn't want to burden you with it if he wasn't going to act on it. I almost told you when my car got keyed. I don't know why I didn't. I'm so sorry, Buck. I never stopped to think that he might go after you."

"It's not your fault. I just wish you had told me sooner so you didn't have to go through it alone."

"I guess I'm still not very good at letting people help me and support me."

He wrapped an arm around her. "Well you're not getting rid of me, so you'll have to get used to it. No more secrets, okay?"

She nodded, smiling when he leaned in to kiss her softly.

* * *

It had been a little over a week since the last note, and there hadn't been any vandalism recently, but Abby wasn't sure if that made her feel better or worse. She supposed that was part of the mind games of it all; she could never know for sure if it was over or if he was just biding his time before he hit her with something else. And the waiting to find out was agonizing. She was anxious all the time, and it drained all her energy. But at the same time, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of breaking her down, so she tried as best she could to keep her day to day as normal as possible. Aside from Buck staying with her – which he often did anyways – not much had changed. She parked as close to her work building as she could get, and she typically waited until someone else was leaving too so she wouldn't be completely alone when walking to her car, but that was about it. She had to admit; it was definitely a relief that she could at least voice her fears to Buck now. Though it didn't lessen the fear, it somehow still made her feel a little better to say it out loud and know that someone understood.

She was only an hour into her shift when her phone buzzed. She didn't typically get many texts at work aside from Buck when he had a few minutes to himself, but she had seen him just two hours ago. She was on a call so she ignored it, but she felt it buzz two more times before she could hang up. When she picked up her cell and looked at the screen, her blood ran cold. Her heart started racing and her stomach turned, and she bolted for the ladies' room to be sick. As she sat on the bathroom floor, trembling, she tried to slow her breathing and calm herself down. She needed to take a closer look at her phone and see what she was really dealing with. Mustering all her strength, she took her phone out of her pocket and reluctantly opened the three messages she had received from a blocked number. There were three images she had seen the preview of on her home screen, and a blurb of text at the end.

The little ray of hope she had that the pictures were simply a ruse to scare her was immediately doused: they were definitely 100% real. The first one showed her and Buck, standing beside her bed, nearly undressed and kissing. The second one was of her on her knees in front of him, his hand in her hair and him looking down at her. And the last one showed her straddling him on the bed, her head thrown back in ecstasy. From what was left of their clothing in the first picture, she knew they were all from last night. But the most horrifying thing of all was the angle from which they were taken: the only place these photos could have been taken from was her closet. The text at the bottom of the last photo read: "You've been a bad girl, Abby. You're playing with fire and you might get burned."

She was fighting valiantly to keep it together, but she was terrified, and she was starting to fall apart. Tears streaming down her face, she picked Athena out of her contact list and waited.

She answered on the second ring. "Abby, what's up?"

"He's been in my house."

"What?"

"T-Tommy," she stammered, "he-he's been in my apartment."

"Did you see him?"

"No, but it must be him. Someone texted me these pictures… Athena they were taken _in my room!_ "She was full on crying now, unable hold it in any longer.

"Okay, don't delete them. Come meet me at the station. Are you okay to drive?"

She sniffled. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Okay, come right back to my desk when you get here."

"Okay."

She probably _shouldn't_ drive, she was still shaking, but she didn't want to let on that she was this unnerved by the photos, just in case he was watching. After apologizing to her supervisor and mumbling something about a family emergency, she walked to her car as calmly as she could manage and headed for the police station.

As instructed, she went straight to Athena's desk when she arrived, and she could feel the tears forming as soon as she sat down but did her best to hold them back.

"Okay, so what's this about pictures?"

"They were from a blocked number so I can't be sure it was him, but I don't know why anyone else would take them or send them to me."

"Okay, let me see."

Athena reached for the phone but Abby hesitated. "They're kind of… personal."

"Abby, I can't help you if I don't know what we're dealing with."

Sighing, Abby reluctantly handed over the phone. She watched anxiously as Athena scrolled through the messages, but she gave no obvious reaction.

"Well, I would agree that it's likely him, but I'll give it to one of our forensic guys and see if he can work out where the messages came from. In the mean time, I think you should go file for a restraining order. I can issue an emergency protective order. A judge has to sign off on it but I can make a call, see if we can get it done within the hour. It only lasts for 5 business days, but it'll give you time to file the paperwork to request a hearing and get your locks changed. You can also ask for a temporary order when you apply for a hearing, which would last a few weeks, but they may or may not grant it. I'll have an officer take a statement from you and make copies of everything you have in terms of evidence. Then you need to get out of that apartment, at least until your hearing. It's usually about 3 weeks from application to hearing. See if you can stay with your brother or Buck. Would be better if you're not alone."

Abby nodded blankly, trying to absorb everything she just heard.

Athena got up and was about to leave with the phone when she paused, turning back to Abby. "Does Buck know about this?"

"About the pictures?"

Athena nodded.

"No. I only called you and came straight here."

"I'll get him down here. I'll let you tell him about the photos, but we'll need a statement from him as well about what he's witnessed and experienced. You also need to go home and pack a bag, and there's no way I'm letting you go back to that apartment alone."

Abby smiled weakly in gratitude.

The rest of the day went by in a slow blur. It was like the events of that morning had completely drained her emotionally and now she was just tired and numb. By the time she finished giving her statement, she wasn't even crying anymore. She was just _there_. Buck was concerned; she could see it in his face. He knew she wasn't okay but he nodded when she claimed she was and he was careful not to push too hard. And thank God for that. She knew the full force of the day would hit her later, but right now she needed to detach a little just to get through everything that had to be done. She had to leave her phone at the station, which was harder than she anticipated. Typically she didn't think of herself as one of those people who are always attached to their phone, but not having it at her side should she need it was strangely disconcerting anyways. They went to the courthouse and got the forms, which she filled out and made the necessary copies of, before submitting. The clerk told her to come back the following day to find out the date of her hearing and if the temporary restraining order was issued.

The hardest part of the day was going back to her apartment to pack. She wasn't used to feeling unsafe in her own home, and right now she didn't even want to open the door. Eventually Buck took the keys from her and entered first, taking a cautious look around before taking her hand and leading her inside. She was about to open the closet when Buck stopped her.

"Wait, you said you thought the pictures were taken from here?"

"They had to have been, they were from this side of the bed."

Buck ran his fingers along the edge of the doors, and paused when he was a little above centre in the middle crease before he opened the door and disappeared behind it. He emerged a second later with a tiny black device between his fingers and her jaw dropped.

"Oh my God! How long has he been watching me?"

"No idea, but we should bring it to Athena. Maybe the cops can find out more."

"I'm so sorry, Buck. I don't know how I got us into this mess."

He wrapped her in a hug. "You didn't. This is on him, not you."

She nodded against his chest. Intellectually she knew he was right, but part of her couldn't help but wonder if she had done something, without realizing it, to catalyze the whole thing.

"Now come on, lets get you some clothes and get out of here."

Truthfully, she paid little to no attention to what she was putting in the suitcase. She really hoped Buck had been more conscientious than she was, otherwise they might be headed to Target later to replace any essentials she missed. She followed him back to their cars, not even protesting when he took the suitcase from her and put it in his trunk, and then she followed in her car as he stopped by the police station and drove home to his apartment. It felt a little strange to her to be staying there. She had been here before, but they typically stayed at her place when they were together. She didn't know why that was though. She supposed it was just a habit from when they first got together, because he had roommates and she couldn't leave her mom for too long, and they had just fallen back to that routine when she came home. Maybe it would be good for her to stay somewhere else for a while: get a bit of a fresh start.

They ordered in for dinner and while they waited, Buck cleared out a couple drawers for her and helped her unpack. She had left a few things here on the odd occasion that she stayed over, but she had never really spent enough nights here to warrant a drawer. It was probably a good idea, she thought, since he had a couple drawers at her place, but based on how often he stayed over, she was getting the impression that he didn't really want to be living separately for a whole lot longer. Whenever she considered that, she had always pictured him moving in with her, but maybe she should consider the alternative. Her place held a lot of memories for her, but while some of them were good, some were quite bad. Maybe it was time for her to move on. She decided to put a pin in that idea until after her hearing, and see how she felt about then.

They put on a movie, but she could feel Buck's eyes on her most of the time. He was worried. She was being exceptionally quiet and they both knew it. She just didn't know what to say. She felt exposed, knowing that someone had watched their most intimate moments, and she was mortified that now there were photos of it in police evidence. And she felt like she had lost the war; she had let Tommy intimidate her and push her out of her home. Where did she go from here? What if he followed her to this apartment? What if the restraining order didn't work; would the harassment ever end? She didn't want to think about that prospect. She was so preoccupied with her own thoughts that she didn't even notice the movie had ended until Buck got up to turn off the TV.

"I don't know about you, but I think I'm going to head to bed."

Though her mind was racing, she was exhausted, so she decided she might as well try and sleep. She snagged the bathroom first and by the time he was done, she was already curled up in bed, wearing the shirt he had discarded on the floor. He climbed in beside her and she turned to snuggle up against his chest. It made her feel safer to have him next to her, but in the dark of night, it was harder to smother her fears.

Buck dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "You really okay?" he asked gently.

She shook her head, her tears breaking free, and he wrapped his arms around her.


	4. Chapter 4

As it turned out, the temporary restraining order was granted and Tommy had essentially disappeared completely. She hoped that didn't mean that they wouldn't issue the permanent one in court today. Being served seemed to be what had gotten him to leave her alone, so she was worried he would come right back if it was lifted. Buck was confident and optimistic, but she was a nervous wreck. In fact, his calmness was actually a little unnerving to her. If it didn't go her way today, it would be a huge fucking deal, and she was concerned that maybe he wasn't taking that possibility as seriously as she felt they should.

"Buck, come on, let's just go already."

"You've been saying that for half an hour, and we're still going to be early."

"I'd rather be early than late. It won't look good if I'm late. And you know what traffic can be like. Plus we still have to stop by my apartment; I left my copies of the notes there."

He sighed. "Okay fine, we'll leave now."

It turned out she was right to be concerned about traffic. By the time they reached her building, she was practically bouncing out of her seat in a panic. If Tommy made it on time and she didn't, it was going to be really embarrassing.

"Stay here and leave the car running. I'll be right back, I know where they are."

She tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for the elevator. Was it always this slow? Finally she reached her floor and dug out her new keys from her purse. She hadn't used them yet, and if they didn't work, she might just break the damn door down at this point. If they were lucky, they might just make it on time. Maybe she could get Buck to drop her at the door to the courthouse and then go find parking: that would save a bit of time. She went straight to the kitchen to the bottom cabinet she rarely used where she had stashed the papers so she wouldn't have to see them. She was in such a hurry that she didn't even register that she wasn't alone. Not until she stood up to leave and turned around. That's when she came face to face with Tommy, who was pointing a gun with a silencer squarely at her head.

"I knew you'd have to come back for something," he said with a smug smile.

"W-what… how…" she looked down at the keys in her hand in confusion.

"The last lock didn't stop me, did you really think a new one would?"

 _Fuck_. He was right. How could she have been so naïve?

"You… you can't be here," she stammered.

"Yes, the restraining order thing. I think we should have a little chat about that, don't you? Come, sit." He gestured towards the couch.

She wanted to run, to scream for help, but she couldn't outrun a bullet. Reluctantly she walked over to the couch and sat down. He pulled out two zip ties from his pocket as he approached her.

"Hands behind your back."

She did as instructed, swallowing hard when she felt him tighten the tie around her wrists. Then he moved to her feet and secured her ankles. There would be no running now.

He sat across from her on the ottoman, keeping the gun trained on her. "I'm disappointed in you, Abby." When she didn't respond, he continued. "I was oh so patient, waiting for the time to be right so we could be together again, and all you do is push me away. _That's what you do, Abby_. You push people away. But I won't let you do it this time."

"What are you going to do to me?" she asked with a calm she didn't feel, trying to channel her 9-1-1 side.

"What do you mean?" He paused, and looked as if he suddenly came to a realization. "Oh my God, are you serious? You actually think I would hurt you?"

"You're pointing a gun at me, Tommy, what am I supposed to think?"

"I just need you to listen to me, to make you see. That's all this is," he gestured toward the gun, "so you'll take me seriously As long as you don't do anything stupid, no one is getting hurt."

"Okay, you've got my attention."

"I just don't understand the problem. We were great together Abby, and there's nothing standing in our way anymore. We can be happy now."

She didn't even know what to say to that. _That's_ how he saw her mother: as a roadblock to their happiness? How could anyone think that way about another human being? She must have looked unconvinced, because he launched into a series of stories about fun things they did and good times they had, as if she had completely forgotten they were ever a couple.

After a while, she could hear her phone buzzing in her purse from where she left it on the kitchen counter. It was Buck, no doubt, asking what the hell was taking her so long. She must have been gone for at least 20 minutes by now. They were officially going to be late. Obviously that was now the least of her worries, but she was sure it was in the forefront of his mind. A couple minutes passed and it started buzzing again, and she was struggling to maintain a straight face against the panic she felt. He was going to come look for her if she didn't answer soon.

"Tommy, my phone –"

"Is driving me crazy, who the hell is calling you every 2 minutes? Oh, let me guess, it's your little boy toy." His face darkened and he stalked over to her purse and dug out the offending phone. He looked at it for a second, and then he hurled it at the floor. The screen shattered and he stomped it with his heel until he was satisfied that it was broken.

"There, that's better. Now, where were we? Oh right, that weekend we spent in San Diego!"

It was such a bizarre act to witness: one minute he was in a rage destroying her phone, and the next he was excited and chattering away about better times. Was he on drugs? He must be. Or maybe he was having some kind of psychotic break. But then again, he had stalked before. She was just doomed to be the first time he made good on his threats. And then the front door swung open, and all hell broke loose.

"Abby, I thought you said you knew where…" Buck's voice trailed off as he reached the doorway to the living room and saw the scene before him.

"It's Buck, right?" Tommy asked, sneering.

Buck nodded but said nothing.

"Well, Buck, I'd invite you to join us, but I'm afraid you'd be a third wheel. And we really don't need another one of those."

Tommy swung the gun towards Buck and Buck, sensing his intent, bolted for the front door he had left open on the way in. Tommy ducked out of the room in pursuit.

"Tommy, let him go!" she shouted, pleading.

Then she heard a popping sound, a thud, and the front door closing, and her heart shattered. Tommy strode calmly back into the room and reclaimed his seat, and angry tears started pouring down her cheeks.

"You said no one would get hurt."

"No one important."

She couldn't hold it back anymore. She burst out sobbing, keeping her eyes fixed on the floor and stubbornly refused to look up no matter how many times he said her name. What did it matter? He would probably just kill her too.

* * *

Athena was at her desk doing paperwork when her phone rang. She checked the display and saw it was her friend who was a bailiff at the courthouse. He must be calling to tell her how Abby's hearing went; she had asked him to keep an eye on Abby and make sure she got out okay.

"Hey Rick, everything go okay with my girl?"

"She never showed."

"What? Are you sure?"

"Yep. Neither did the accused. Whole thing got thrown out."

"Okay, thanks for letting me know. Call me back if you hear anything more."

"Will do."

She ended the call with a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Then she dialled another number.

"Hey, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Bobby greeted her.

"Have you heard from Buck today?"

"Uhh… I texted him this morning to say good luck to him and Abby today, and he said thanks. That's about it. Why?"

"I'll call you later."

Ending the call, she dialled yet another number: Abby's. But it went straight to voicemail. Next she tried Buck and while it rang, he didn't pick up. She grabbed her keys and sprinted to her car. Something wasn't right. She drove to the place where she thought they were most likely to have run into trouble, listening to the police scanner as she drove, but she heard nothing about a major accident that could have held them up long enough to miss the hearing. She killed the siren a couple blocks away, wanting to keep a low profile about her arrival. If she was wrong, there was no need to cause a panic and if she was right, she could use the element of surprise to her advantage.

When she pulled up in front of Abby's building and spotted Buck's car parked out front instead of in the parking lot, she knew her hunch was right: something went down here. She peered in the windows and saw his phone and some file folders on the centre console. He must have thought he would be coming right back if he left his phone. Heading inside, she got a copy of Abby's new key and the apartment number from the superintendent. Slowly, gun drawn, she cautiously approached the door to apartment #5 and listened carefully. She could hear two voices, a male and a female, though she couldn't make out what they were saying. The female voice was very quiet, but the male sounded aggravated. She couldn't just bust in there without a reason to suspect anyone was in imminent danger. She positioned herself along the wall and crouched down, hoping that if the door opened quickly, it would buy her an extra second or two before being seen. That was when she noticed a tiny red stain on the carpet that seemed to be coming from under the door. It was fresh and it looked like blood to the eye, so she whispered into her radio for backup before switching it off, not wanting the crackled response to give her away. Now it was a waiting game, and all she could do was hope that she wouldn't be too late.

* * *

Abby cried until she couldn't breathe, and then she had to force herself to calm down. She couldn't afford to pass out. If there was _any_ chance that it wasn't too late for Buck, she had to get out of this apartment alive and get help. With a deep breath, she finally looked up to meet Tommy's eyes.

"Why?" she asked quietly.

"Why?" He seemed genuinely confused.

"Why did you come find me that day?"

"You really don't get it, do you? I _love_ you, Abby. I always did. But you never had time for me. Things should have been different this time."

She weighed her options for a minute and decided she really only had one course of action. "I see that now."

A brief flicker of joy flashed on his face before it was quickly replaced with suspicion. _Bingo_.

"You're just saying that."

"No, I mean it. I just needed to hear you say it to be sure. You were right before, when you said I push everyone away. I do. And I tried to push you away again, but you're still here. You must really love me. No one else would ever fight this hard for me."

"We belong together, Abby. Give us another chance. We were happy, weren't we?"

"Yes."

"We could be that happy again. Just say you'll be mine again."

She took a deep breath and locked eyes with him. "Okay."

"You really mean that?" He looked hopeful, but not entirely convinced.

"I do. But we can't stay here. My neighbours might have heard something, and Buck is supposed to work tonight. His coworkers will be looking for him."

"Where are we going to go?"

She smiled. "Anywhere we want."

"My family still has that cabin by Big Bear Lake."

"That's perfect. No interruptions: just you and me."

He finally returned her smile, albeit tentatively, and disappeared into the kitchen. When he returned, he was holding a pair of scissors. Kneeling down, he snipped the zip tie binding her ankles.

"I want to free your hands too, but you have to promise me you won't do anything stupid. I'd really hate to shoot you."

"I won't, I promise."

He freed her wrists but kept the gun trained on her. "This is how we're going to do this: you're going to go nice and slow, and stay real close to me, and I'm going to keep this gun against your back. If you try to run, I shoot. You're going to drive my car and I'll give you directions as we go. I love you, but I don't trust you. You have to earn that trust back. Understand?"

"Yes."

He guided her to the door and it took all of her strength not to look down at Buck. If she saw him she would fall apart, and that couldn't happen right now. As she stepped into the hallway, she caught sight of Athena in her peripheral vision and her heart started racing. _Can't let him see her._ She turned abruptly towards the elevators and thankfully he followed her so closely that he didn't look back as he closed the door behind them. She took two more steps, and then it happened.

"Freeze!" Came Athena's voice from behind her. "Drop the weapon."

Tommy grabbed her and spun them around, moving the gun to her head.

"Did you set me up, Abby?" He growled in her ear.

"No! How could I? I was with you the whole time and you broke my phone."

"It was probably your stupid _boyfriend_ ," he grumbled.

"Tommy, drop the weapon," Athena insisted.

"Police! Drop your weapon!"

He spun them around again and suddenly they were facing a group of armed officers emerging from the stairwell and fanning out across the hall.

Realizing there was no way out, she felt him lift the gun away from her head.

"Put it down, slowly, and kick it to the side." Athena instructed.

He did as she asked, and suddenly the officers swarmed. Athena secured the gun while other officers cuffed Tommy and took him into custody and yet another rushed over to her. He tried to get a hold on her, telling her that she was okay, but she pushed him away and ducked back inside the apartment, falling to her knees beside Buck. He was incredibly pale and had lost an alarming amount of blood. She looked over her shoulder and shouted to the officer following her.

"Call an ambulance!"

She held her breath as she felt for his pulse. It was weak and thready, but it was there. She dashed into the kitchen and grabbed a tea towel, balling it up and using it to apply pressure to the bullet wound.

"Buck? Buck stay with me, okay?"

He didn't respond, but she prayed he could hear her. She couldn't lose him like this.

* * *

The next couple months were some of the toughest she had faced, but it felt like things were finally getting back on track now. Tommy was in jail awaiting trial for numerous charges from stalking all the way up to attempted murder. It was a huge relief to have him off the streets, but she still found herself looking over her shoulder from time to time. Therapy was helping with that, along with the guilt she struggled with over what happened to Buck. He had been adamant from the moment he woke up from surgery that none of it was her fault and he didn't want her to beat herself about it, but that was much easier said than done. She had fully moved into his apartment to help take care of him when he was released from the hospital, and somewhere along the line, they had come to an unspoken agreement that she was staying for good. He was still in physiotherapy but doing very well and no longer _needed_ her there, but her apartment just didn't feel like home anymore. She gave her notice last week, and Bobby and Athena were coming this weekend to help her pack up and bring the rest of her things. She didn't want to go back there alone, even with Tommy behind bars, and Buck was still on strict orders not to overdo it with heavy lifting. Aside from that, life was settling back into something that resembled their normal routine. She would never be quite the same – this she knew – but she was grateful they had all survived the ordeal, and she was determined to move forward with her life. At the end of the day, she and Buck were still standing and still going strong, and that was a blessing she could be very, very happy about.

* * *

A/N: That's all folks! I'm not thrilled with the "conclusion" part of it, but tbh I didn't really plan anything beyond the confrontation lol so I got a little lost trying to tie everything up.


End file.
